1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monitoring coin-operated machines, and, more specifically, to monitoring a number of coin-operated machines from a remote location via a computer network and/or the internet.
Owners/operators of coin-operated machines, typically vending machines and the like, are constantly plagued by the problem of providing adequate service to the machine, tracking the profitability of a machine or group of machines, determining the buying/usage habits of patrons of a particular machine, etc. By having up-to-date information about their machines, operators can optimize their service schedules and product offerings, detect problems or tampering attempts, detect machine malfunctions such as coin or bill jams, determine the quantities of products remaining and log purchases by date and time. The list of possibilities is seemingly endless, but the bottom line is that the operator, with current machine data, can probably keep his or her machines xe2x80x9con linexe2x80x9d a high percentage of the time, thereby potentially maximizing profits. However, typically, vending or other coin-operated machines are visited on a periodic, routine basis by a service person who conducts an inventory of the products sold, replenishes the stock, checks the machines for malfunctions, and collects the deposited money. Because every machine will have a different history, some machines could have been devoid of product for a period of time before the scheduled visit by a service person while other machines may have been utilized only sporadically and need less frequent attention. In addition, malfunctions in the machine, such as coin or bill jams, create a loss of goodwill as well as revenue, and may increase the risk of vandalism to the machine by an angry customer. Ideally, the service frequency for each machine will occur just prior to the machine having vended all of its stock, regardless of the frequency of use.
With up-to-date information for each machine, malfunctions my be corrected sooner than if a route service person simply finds the problem on his next routine visit to the machine, possibly several days after the problem occurred. A service person could also be prepared with the correct amount of inventory with which to replenish the machine. High activity machines could receive the attention they deserve while low activity machine could receive less frequent attention.
In gaming (i.e., slot machines or the like) or arcade-type coin operated machines, change machines, coin laundry machines as well as other types of coin-operated machine, keeping the machines up and running is also important to maintain profitability and good will.
Having a system whereby a coin-operated machine operator can remotely determine the operating status, inventory level, etc., of one or more machines becomes highly desirable. The widespread availability of the internet has made this more practical than has heretofore been possible. In addition, a system which can, under certain predetermined circumstances, notify the operator via e-mail, fax, beeper, or the like of a problem demanding immediate attention would be highly attractive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The problem of remotely monitoring vending or other coin operated machines is not new. To date, many solutions have been proposed. However, none of the solutions provided heretofore are seen to have the inherent advantages of the system of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,713 for INVENTORY, CASH, SECURITY, AND MAINTENANCE CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR A PLURALITY OF REMOTE VENDING MACHINES, issued Feb. 25, 1992, to Arthur H. Horne, et al., provides one such solution. HORNE, et al. equip a vending machine with several sensing systems to monitor inventory level, sense machine malfunctions and detect vandalism. Each machine is configured to communicate via a standard dial-up telephone connection. The HORNE, et al. apparatus also includes a credit card verification mechanism. Two-way voice communication is possible between a patron of the remote vending machine and a central monitoring site. Telephone communication is maintained constantly and personnel are required to be on duty in the central monitoring facility to interact with the machines or users thereof.
In contradistinction, the inventive system utilizes a highly automated central monitoring system. Both individual coin-operated machines and/or groups of coin-operated machines linked to one another and/or a group controller may contact the central monitoring site on an as needed basis (i.e., may dial in when there is data to be transmitted). In addition, the inventive system may be polled from a central computer and periodically transmit stored data to the central computer system upon command. The inventive system also includes a database system wherein data from individual and related groups of machines is analyzed and provided via a web page to authorized users. Authorized users may determine the status of any or all of their machines and may, in interactive mode, modify the data or even reprogram operation of the data collection system. Finally, the inventive system provides an alert sub-system whereby as certain predetermined events are reported by a machine, an e-mail message, a page, fax, or similar real-time alert may be sent to an appropriate person. If a response is not received from the notified person within a predetermined time, the alert may be repeated or the transmission mechanism may be switched. The alert function is particularly useful for machine events that involve malfunction or vandalism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,070 for E-MAIL SYSTEM AND INTERFACE FOR EQUIPMENT MONITORING AND CONTROL, issued Dec. 14, 1999, to Robert H. Frantz, teaches a system wherein individual coin-operated machines may generate e-mail messages. Each e-mail message is specific to a particular event or condition in the individual machine. In addition, the FRANTZ system allows e-mail responses to be received by the coin-operated machines which translate the messages and perform an operation in response to a message.
The inventive system, on the other hand, utilizes e-mail messages as one potential alert vehicle. Unlike the FRANTZ system, the messages in the inventive system are generated by the central monitoring site in response to data representative of certain remote machine conditions or events. There is no communication to an individual machine by e-mail message in the inventive system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,548 for TELELINK MONITORING AND REPORTING SYSTEM, issued Aug. 23, 1988 to Louis A. Cedrone, et al., teaches another telephone-based reporting system. CEDRONE, et al., rely on a non-dedicated telephone connection whereby their microprocessor-based machines may periodically report stored status information to a remote site by use of built-in modems.
The inventive system is designed for retrofitting into existing mechanical and/or electronic coin-operated machines. While the inventive data collection unit may be utilized with a microprocessor-based coin-operated machine, it is also readily adapted for use in older, mechanical coin-operated machines by providing analog input for monitoring devices within the machine, such as triggers, switches, counters, etc. It may also have digital input ports for connection to digital or electrical signal lines in electronic and/or hybrid coin-operated machines. CEDRONE, et al. teach none of the sophistication of the central monitoring portion of the invention. No web page server is present whereby a customer""s service person or other authorized person may access individual or group machine data via the internet from anywhere in the world where the internet may be accessed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,358 for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY MONITORING A PLURALITY OF COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEMS, issued Dec. 26, 2000, to Konstantin Othmer, et al., teaches a system for remotely monitoring the operation of computer-based systems connected to a central server. The system is particularly useful for monitoring the operation of a software product being debugged on a plurality of remote workstations (i.e., computers). The OTHMER, et al., system does include provisions for the automatic generation of e-mail messages by the central server as well as a bug tracking and customer service data base with browse and query tools available to manipulate the database.
Unlike the inventive system, there is no scaled alert system whereby fax, pager, telephone, etc. may be used as an alternative to e-mail or as ancillary method of communication in the event that a user does not make a timely response to an e-mail. Also, the browse and query tools are not available via web page to authorized users via the internet. The system does not directly apply to coin-operated machines, especially to remote groups of machines arranged on their own LANs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,694 for REPORTING UNIT, issued Aug. 25, 1992, to Brett A. Jackson, et al., teaches a method for optimized coverage for devices utilizing radio frequency (RF) signals for data communication and reporting. JACKSON, et al., teach the use of an RF link but are silent on any details concerning the generation of data within a coin-operated machine and do not teach any elements of the sophisticated central monitoring facility of the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,401 for METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ACKNOWLEDGING A PAGING MESSAGE VIA A CELLULAR PHONE NETWORK CONTROL CHANNEL, issued Jun. 11, 1996, to Peter O. Roach, Jr., et al., teaches details of the use of the cellular phone network for data communication including acknowledgment routines. While the type of communication methodology taught by ROACH, Jr., et al., could be used for a data transmission element in the inventive system, there is no teaching of any of the many inventive concepts and elements of the central monitoring site present.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,981 for APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED VENDING MACHINE INVENTORY MAINTENANCE, issued Jan. 30, 2001, to Steve Varga, et al., teaches a system wherein a plurality of vending machines are linked to a central monitoring facility. Inventory and status information is transmitted from the machines or groups of machines to the central site via a telephone or radio modem link. Information analyzed at the central site allows dispatch of appropriate service personnel when a machine requires attention.
VARGA, et al., however, neither disclose nor suggest the sophisticated database server, the web server, or the alert server of the instant invention. Neither do VARGA, et al., teach a data collection unit suitable for inclusion in an existing coin-operated machine. The VARGA, et al., system is also limited strictly to vending machines unlike the system of the present invention which finds utility when used with any type of coin-operated machine. Finally, no data communication utilizing the internet is taught or suggested, nor is data encrypted.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, are, however, seen to anticipate or suggest the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention relates to a system and method for remotely monitoring the operation and/or status of at least one coin-operated (e.g., vending) machine. Data from the coin-operated machine is collected and either transmitted by the individual machine to a remote server, or, in an alternate embodiment, data is collected by a local group controller (e.g., a PC or other CPU) which is connected to the coin-operated machines via a LAN or other similar network. Data from multiple machines is then transmitted to the remote server by the local group controller. Data transmission, whether from individual machines or groups of machines on a LAN is typically via the internet. The combination of one or more remote machines and the central monitoring site form a Virtual Private Network (VPN). An optional feature, operative with any embodiment of the inventive system, allows for e-mail or other type of alert messages to be sent from the central monitoring site in response to the identification of one or more predetermined events for which a customer should be immediately notified. A scalable alert scheme with escalating retransmission and alternate alert methods is provided. Browse and query tools working against a database of machine information are provided so that authorized customers or other interested parties may, via a web page accessed from the internet, view and possibly modify data for individual or groups of coin-operated machines. Finally, a web server is provided upon which the aforementioned web page is posted. The web page allows authorized customers or other authorized persons to browse and/or query the database from essentially anywhere in the world, via the internet. An optional interactive mode, whereby the user may actually modify the data or the query statements, may also be provided on the web page.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines.
It is another object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein predetermined events and/or conditions within a coin-operated machine are logged and data representative of these events or conditions is transmitted to a remote central monitoring site.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein individual coin-operated machines may communicate directly with a remote central monitoring site.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein multiple coin-operated machines are arranged on a local area network (LAN) with a CPU and wherein combined data for all machines on the LAN is communicated to a remote central monitoring site by the CPU.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein data communicated between the coin-operated machines and the central monitoring site is encrypted for transmission.
It is again an object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines which includes data collection units adapted for installation inside an existing coin-operated machine.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein the data collection units include both analog and digital data inputs which may be connected to existing triggers, switches and data signals within either mechanical and electronic coin-operated machines.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein data communication between the coin-operated machine and the central site is by means of the internet.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a remote monitoring system for one or more coin-operated machines wherein a database of machine information at a central site may be browsed or queried by authorized persons by a web page accessed through the internet for any location having internet access.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.